| |
|
Never in Indian history had it happened before that a great armed uprising had taken place led directly by Hindu ascetics. It was a direct repercussion of the years of subjugation which mainly Hindu dominated peasantries of Bengal had to face. First in the hands of the Mughals and then in the hands of the British. The puppet regime of Mir Qasim had given all sorts of freedom to the British merchants. Now these merchants in the name of law plundered farmers who had already became subdued to Zamindars. When the British governments control over East India company grew after the Regulating Act of 1773 and Pitts India Act of 1784, these merchants were replaced by Government Officers. In Bengal and Bihar the revenue were collected by hereditary Zamindars. The word Zamindar means land owner, which covers the meaning of ownership, tax collector or a some kind of mixture between the two. The Zamindars of Bengal were simply the agents of the government. What they paid was subject to annual squabble with the Government Officers, as a result of which these Zamindars were often maltreated and beaten up, and sometimes they were disposed off from their posts. What the villages could actually pay were the Zamindars secret; the difference between what they could squeeze from the village and what the Government could squeeze from them was their living. Thus the settlement of land tax were annual, the measurements on which the assessments were made was based on the great survey done by Akbar. In addition to this the Zamindars had police and magisterial powers in their hand. Below the Zamindars came the cultivating peasants. They were exposed to the rods of the Zamindars as Zamindars were exposed to the rods of the government officers. The company's demand together with its servants derangement of the local economy lead to over-collection of land-revenues. Which became one of the cause for the great famine of 1769-70 in Bengal. Bengal sank from a state of fabled prosperity to rural misery. The seeds had been laid, the hungry peasants, the insulted Zamindar and the Sanyasi (Hindu Ascetics). The lead was taken by the Sanyasi, money was provided by the Zamindar and men were the hungry Peasants. The guerilla mode of warfare was adopted. next page >> |
Copyright ©2000 indiansaga.info. All rights reserved.
By using this service, you accept that you won't copy or use the data given in this website for any commercial purpose.
The material on indiansaga.info is for informational & educational purpose only.
This site is best viewed at 800 X 600 picture resolution.
